Presidents’ Day: Feb. 18

Published: Monday, Feb. 18, 2013 3:05 p.m. CST

Presidents’ Day is observed on the third Monday of February. Although many feel Presidents’ Day is a time to honor all former U.S. presidents, the federal holiday is actually the official observance of George Washington’s birthday (Feb. 22).

To commemorate Presidents’ Day, the Census Bureau has pulled information from its geographic database on the country’s 100 most common names of places, minor civil divisions (MCDs) and counties. The following list shows where the last names of various presidents rank on the list (rankings based on “actual name” counts).

Washington: 127

Lincoln: 95

Jackson: 96

Jefferson: 84

Clinton: 61

Madison: 70

Monroe: 64

Grant : 62

Harrison: 39

Adams: 42

Cleveland: 32

Garfield: 27

Wilson: 37

Taylor : 47

It’s also worth noting that:

• Although never a president, founding father Benjamin Franklin’s last name was the second most common name of a place, MCD or county, with 89 of these bearing his actual name.

• Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home in Virginia, is tied for 110th place, with 18 places, MCDs and counties across the country having this actual name.